Rope-making machine



Oct. 7 1924. I 1,510,691

M. MEYER ROPE MAKING MACHINE Filed Dec. 5, 1922 Patented Oct. 7, 1924.

UNITED STATES 1,51,691 PATENT ori ice.

MARTIN MEYER, OF SHEFFIELD, IOWA.

ROPE-MAKING MACHINE.

Application filed December at rope making machine of simple, durable andinexpensive construction.

A further object is to provide in a rope making machine certainimprovements whereby very simple means are provided for releasing thelongitudinal tension on the strands as they are being twisted, at thewill of the operator.

A further object is toprovide in a rope making machine improved meansfor securing the. fixed ends of the strands, said means being soarranged that the strands may be easily and quickly released orpermitted to twist as the rope is being formed, said twisting actionbeing controlled by the operator.

These and other objects are apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention-consists in the construction, arrangement and combinationof the various parts of the device, whereby theob ectS contemplated areattained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims,and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which;

2 Figure l ,is a perspective view of my improved device. a

Figure 2 is an end elevation of the twisting mechanism viewed from itsouter end.

Figure 3 is an enlarged, detail view of the strand supporting member.

Figured is an enlarged detail view of one end of the body portion of themechaf nism.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the strand guide; and

Figure 6 is a detail View showing the strand supporting member in aposition as used when the rope is being formed, a portion of the ropealso being illustrated.

My improved device comprises a. base board 10 which is designed to restin a horizontal position upon a box or table, the inner ends of the base10 being provided with an upright body portion 12, which consistspreferably of a board having 5, 1922. Serial No. 605,020.

its lower edge secured to the base and each of its side edges providedwith a pair of spaced semi-circular notches 13. Secured to each of thesaid edges of the body portion 12 by means of screws 14, I have provideda narrow strip 15, the inner edge of said strip being provided withsemi-circular notches 16 designed to coact withthe notches 13 so thatcircular openings may be formed;

Each of the circular openings is designed toreceive a strand twistinghook 17, one end of which is provided with a hook 18 and the oppositeend with a crank 19. All of the cranks 19 are designed to receive what Ishall term a rotary head 20. The said head is provided with suitableopenings to receive the said cranks, the openings being spaced the samedistance apart as the openings of the members 12 and 15.

The central portion of the head 20 is provided with a handle 21. Theouter end of each of the cranks 19 is provided with nut 22 or suitablemeans of securing the rotary head in position.

It will be seen that if the handle 21 is grasped and a rotary movementimparted thereto, that the head will travel in a circular path causingall. of the strand. twistingv hooks to rotate simultaneously.

In the actual manufacturing of this device, the crank and each of thestrand twisting hooks are formed before it is assembled. The device isassembled by first removing the screws'l-i and the strips 15,

then placing a strand twisting hook" in each of theslots 13, andafterwards TQPIQC".

ing the strips 15 and securing the same in position. By this arrangementit will be seen that the strand twisting hooks may be very cheaply madeby simply forming the hooks by means of a, forming die or drop forging.

For securing the I have'provided a pair .of eyelets 23 in a fined endsof the strands,

post or beam 24, one of the eyelets being spaced above the other in sucha manner that a vertically arranged rod 25 may be extended through them.The rod 25 is 'provided with a horizontal portion 26 and an upwardlyextended portion 27. The upwardly extending portion 27 is provided atits upper end with a detachable pin 28.

In the practical operation of the device, the base member 10 of thetwisting mechanism is placed on a table or box a distance from thestrand supporting member 25 s, ac;

slightly greater than the length or the rope which'it is desired 'tomake. The center of the body portion 12 is substantially in a horizontalline with the upper end of the member 27. The device is then operated bytaking a strand of material from which the rope is to be made, indicatedby the numeral 29, and forming a loop in one end, said loop being placedover the downwardly extending-end of the rod 25. The strand is thenextended upwardly over one end of the pin 28 to one of the hooks 17. Itis then returned to the upper end 27 of the member and passed diagonallyover the pin 28, as indicated by the portion 30 of Figure 8. The strandis then carried to another book and brought back again to the member 27.This operation is repeated for each 01'' the books 17, each i whichshould carry an equal number of strands. The number of strands requiredis governed by the size of the rope it is desired to make. After asufiicient number of the strands have been placed on the books, the freeend of the strand is brought to the lower end oi? the member 25 andsecured in the same manner that the opposite end was. This providesmeans for rigidly and firmly securing the strands in position.

After the strands have been placed as above described the operator sitson the base and grasps the handle 21 in one hand and imparts a rotarymovement'to the head 20. The head may then be rotated sufliciently tocause the strands to twist about each other when released. As thetwisting of the strands is being accomplished, the said strands willhave a tendency to shorten. This tension may be released by simplypermitting the base 10 to slide toward the strand supporting member.

After the strands have been twisted sufficiently, the usual stranc guidedevice 31 is placed between the strands in the usual manner near thestrand supporting member That portion of the strand which is secured tothe lower 'end of the member is untied, atter which the member is liftedout of the eyelets 23 and allowed to take the position as shown inFigure 6.

By grasping the portion 27 of the member 25 with one hand and operatingthe strand guide with the'other hand, it will be seen that the member 27may be permitted to rotate in the hand as the rope is twisted; or if avery large rope is being made, one operator may grasp the portion 27 inone hand and the portion 25 in the other hand, while another operatorcontrols the strand guide 31. As the strand guide is moved toward thebody portion 12, the first oper tor may use the member 25 as a crank andassist in twisting the rope. After the rope has been entirely twisted,the strands may be easily and quickly released from the member 25 bysimply pulling the pin 28 from the member 27. The ends of the strandswill then slip off of the ends of the said member.

Thus it will be seen that l have provided rope making machine of simple,durable and inexpensive construction which soconstructed and arrangedthat any person may make his own rope by simply using a few strands ofbinder twine or similar material.

I claim as my invention.

1. A rope making machine comprising a horizontal base member, an uprightbody member secured to one end of said base memher, a series oi strandtwisting hooks in said body portion, each of which is provided with a.crank, a. rotary head member for said cranks, a handle for said rotaryhead member, a strand supporting member comprising a pair of eyelets, asupporting rod for said eyelets comprising a vertically arranged portirmhaving at its upper end a horizontal portion'and an upwardly extendingportion for said horizontal portion, and av detachable pin for the lastsaid upwardly extending portion.

2. A rope making machine comprising a horizontal. base member, anupright body portion at one end of said base member, the edges of saidbody portion being pro vided with semi-circular notches, a strip foreach edge of said body portion, each 01? said strips also being providedwith semicircular notches to coact with the notches oi said body portionto form openings, means for securing said strips to said body portion, astrand twisting hook for each of the openings formed in said strips,each of said hooks being provided with a crank, a rotary head member forsimultaneously receiving all of said cranks, and handle for said headmember.

3. In a. device of the class described, a strand supporting membercomprising a pair of eyelets, a supporting rod for said eyeletscom-prising a vertically arranged portion having at its upper end ahorizontal portion and an upwardly extending portion for said horizontalportion, and a detachable pin for the last said upwardly extendingportion.

Des Moines, Iowa, November 14, 1922.

MARTIN MEYER.

